Iran Feature: Human Rights Round-up (1-7 February 2010)

Overview

Optimism and a refusal to be cowed, bullied or intimidated: that’s the message from human rights activists this week. Despite the Iranian Regime’s best efforts to thwart the preparations for 22 Bahman --- with intimidation and coercion in the form of mass arrests of both students and journalists, continued threats to execute execute the nine “mohareb” Ashura protesters, and other propaganda --- the protests will proceed.

Iran Special: The 57 Journalists in Iran’s Prisons
The Latest from Iran (8 February): Staying with the Real Story

The Week In Brief:

Monday 1 February

• Vahid Abedini, (University of Tehran) arrested with two others.


• Navid Abedini, (University of Shahid Beheshti) arrested with Vahid Abedini and Esmaeel Izadi Khah (student at University of Shahid Beheshti). Reports from Kashan indicated further arrests: Mohammad Mokhtari (formerly but recently dismissed from the University of Kashan) arrested with two others who were subsequently released.


• Shirin Alam Hooli, recently found guilty of being a member of the Kurdish opposition group PJAK, wrote a   letter “from death row” on 18 January.


• Parisa Kakaiee, a member of CHRR and Mehrdad Rahimi, one of the Committee members arrested. Two other members, Saeed Habibi and Hesam Missaghi were not arrested, but were reportedly receiving repeated calls from officials from the Ministry of Information.


• The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRR) said there was no information about Mehraneh Atashi (the internationally acclaimed photo-journalist) and her husband, who remain missing, presumed detained.

Tuesday 2 February

• ICHR reported alleged protester abuse at Mashad revolutionary courts.


• Three civil rights activists (Reza, Mohammad and Hassan Akvanian) arrested in Yasuj (a city in South-western Iran).


• More than one month after the arrests of Alireza Firoozi and Sourena Hashemi (student activists from Zanjan University), their whereabouts remain unknown and no-one has accepted responsibility for their arrests. However, security agents are suspected of fraudulently using their internet IDs in an attempt to elicit information from family and friends.


• Ali-Mohammad Eslampour, Editor of the weekly newspaper Navay-e-Vaght summoned to the 9^th branch of the Revolutionary Court where he was arrested by order of Judge Najjar.


• Kayvan Samimi (MD of the now-banned Nameh Magazine, and the website Kharabat) received a six year prison sentence and a lifetime ban from political activity.


• Amnesty International issued a statement and appeals campaign urging the Iranian authorities not to execute the nine mohareb protesters.


• Niloofar Laripour arrested after being summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence.


• Amnesty International launched a letter appeal campaign against student leader Majid Tavakkoli’s sentence.

Wednesday 3 February

• Literary writer and journalist Javad Mahzadeh still held at Evin Prison, despite being given a suspended four year sentence.


• Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, human rights activist, member of the Central Council of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, and journalist, arrested at home.


• Sahar Ghassem Nejad, Nazanin Hassan Nia, and Alireza Saghafi arrested. Sagar and Nazanin do not belong to any political organisation. Alireza is a journalist and labour rights defender.


• Mohammad Amin Valian, member of the Central Council of Islamic Association at Damghan Science University, appeared in a show trial presided over by Judge Salavati. Mohammad was charged with: mohareb and other associated charges. He did not accept these charges in court.


• Ardavan Ghara’ati, Karroubi’s campaign manager in Kohgilooyeh & Boyerahmad province arrested during a raid at the home of local activist Reza Akvanian, who was also arrested.

Thursday 4 February

• Massoud Shafiee, lawyer for the three American hikers detained on the Iran/Iraq border, said he had met with the authorities who had promised him a chance to meet his clients over the coming days. They also apparently promised that the three would be permitted to call home over the coming 72 hours.


• Bahar Tarakameh, daughter of the acclaimed author and critic, Yunes Tarakameh arrested.


• Several arrests of those connected with internet publication Sar-e Peech : Yashar Darolshafa, Maziar Samiee, Bahar Torakemeh and Maziar Samiee.


• Shiva Nazarahari’s mother issued a plea regarding her daughter’s ailing health and the fact that she remains in solitary confinement.


• Student activist Eftekhar Barzegarian, transferred to Mashad’s Vakilabad Prison’s notorious ward 5.


• The names of  seven Kurdish students arrested following a student rally at Tehran University in November released:  Ahmad Ismaili, Amanj Rahimi, Abdullah Arefi, Pakhshan Azizi, Leila Mohammadi, Sarveh Weisi and Hajhar Yousefi. Their location remains unknown.


• Three female students from Tehran University (Sarveh Weisi, Leila Mohammadi, and Pakhshan Azizi) reportedly on hunger strike in prison for more than 8 days.


• Mahsa Hekmat (journalist who writes for many newspapers including Etemad) released from Evin after 34 days.


• Golnaz Tavasoli, student at Tehran’s Azad University, arrested. No information available on her whereabouts.


• Kurdish human rights activist Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshi, allowed to contact his family. Kermanshi arrested on 3 February and taken to an unknown location – reported to be rejecting charges being put to him.


• Morteza Samyari, of the Advar Tahkim Vadat Organization, visited in Evin Prison by his family. An anonymous person allegedly contacted the family asserting that Samyari had been charged with mohareb.


• News emerged from the previous Sunday (31 January) regarding University of Shiraz student, Kazem Rezaee’s  appearance at Revolutionary Court. Eyewitnesses reported that, 3 months after his arrest, he had multiple marks of torture and injuries all over his body.


• Persian2English posted the International Committee Against Execution’s (ICAE) list of 56 political prisoners awaiting execution in Iran in full, in Farsi and in English.

Friday 5 February

• Mourning Mothers issued a statement objecting to the executions of political protesters, execution sentences for several political prisoners and demanding the revocation of death sentences for political prisoners. They also demanded the release of prisoners of conscience and trials for those: “who were responsible for and who ordered their children’s murders”.


• Morteza Samyari, student, tried during the 3^rd Ashura sessions, allowed a family visit.


• 40 days after his arrest the family of Omid Ali Mehrnia, the 70-year-old retired school teacher, arrested and accused of being connected to the MKO,  issued a statement about his ailing health.


• The husband of Bahareh Hedayat’s (from Advar Tahkim Vahdat Organization) continues to try to visit her in Evin Prison - she is not allowed visitors and has only been allowed one telephone contact since her arrest.


• Touran Kabiri & Kaveh Darolshafa, arrested on 4 February, released. Yashar Darolshafa arrested hours before his mother and his brother, remains in prison – no charges have yet been made.


• Koohyar Gudarzi, Shiva Nazar Ahari, Mehrdad Rahimi and Parisa Kakayi, four members of the CHRR (Committee of Human Rights Reporters), allowed a family visit in  Evin Prison.


• Amnesty International issued appeals letters, for the seven members of the CHRR being detained in Tehran amid fears they will be forced to confess to crimes leading to conviction of mohareb, leading to execution.

Saturday 6 February

• Interrogation of CHRR journalist Saeed Jalalifar ended. He has been charged with “propaganda activities against the regime”.


• Saeed Nour-Mohammadi (arrested January 2010) said he was accused of sending emails and text messages in a phone call to family members.

Sunday 7 February

• Arash Rahmanipour’s family were pressured not to hold a funeral and memorial service for their recently executed son.


• Ali Kalayi arrested at Emam Ali military college. Eighth CHRR journalist to be arrested. The seven previously arrested are detained in Evin Prison. The complete list : Shiva Nazar-Ahari, Koohyar Gudarzi, Saeed Jalaifar, Parisa Kakayi, Saeed Kalanaki, Saeed Ha’eri, Mehrdad Rahimi and Ali Kalayi.


• Saleh Noghrehkar, Zahra Rahnavard’s nephew and an adviser to Mousavi’s presidential campaign, told to present himself to Evin officials to answer questions.


• Hamideh Ghasemi, (student Tehran University) arrested on Wednesday 3 February by agents from the Intelligence Ministry. However, her family only found out about her arrest on 7 February.


• Abdolreza Tajik, journalist imprisoned at Evin since Ashura, reported to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown following the execution of his cellmate Arash Rahmanipoor.


• Ehsan Mehrabi, parliamentary correspondent of Farhikhtegan harrested at his home. No word on his location and that of others apparently arrested on the same day.


• Siyamak Nadali, the former secretary of Lorestan University islamic student association, arrested by agents from the Intelligence Ministry.


• Prominent journalist Emadeddin Baghi remains in solitary confinement, unable to receive visitors, in ward 240 of Evin prison despite the fact that his interrogation has reportedly ended.


• Journalist and One Million Signatures Campaign (OMSC) member Somayeh Momeni arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents.


• Mohammad Yousef Rashidi (expelled Amir Kabir University student) moved to public section 7, along with 40 other prisoners.

*Hat-tip to friends, too many to mention, and to Persian2English, Amnesty International, RAHANA (Reporters and Human Rights Activists in Iran), ICHRR (Iran Committee of Human Rights Reporters)

RAHANA (Reporters and Human Rights Activists in Iran)

The Latest from Iran (8 February): Staying with the Real Story

2045 GMT: But There are Limits. One leading international media organisation is proclaiming that it has mobilised itself to cover Thursday's events in Iran. It has even set up a dedicated Twitter account for Iran, announced throughout today in a series of tweets.

Only problem is that this broadcaster/website hasn't quite got the hang of using Twitter for gathering latest news rather than for self-promotion. Total number of Twitter accounts it is following? 7, all of whom happen to be its own staff.

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The Latest from Iran (7 February): Tremors

2020 GMT: 22 Bahman is Back! The "Western" media, which only 12 hours ago seemed to be oblivious to anything Iran-related  unless it had the word "nuclear", has re-discovered the internal events and tensions. Numerous services are carrying the report of the Associated Press on the Supreme Leader's speech (1245, 1420, & 1940 GMT), while The New York Times picks up on Reuters' summary of the statements of Mir Hossein Mousavi (1635 GMT) and Mohammad Khatami (separate entry). Even America's ABC News has taken notice, catching up with Saturday's interview of Mehdi Karroubi in a German magazine.

And CNN, declaring that it was going to cover Iran closely before and on Thursday, has launched a special section on its website.

2015 GMT: Shutting Down the News. Pedestrian follows up on the arrest of photographer Amir Sadeghi, the creator of the excellent Tehran Live, and the detentions of both sisters of blogger Agh Bahman.

1940 GMT: We Are Number One (and We Will Punch You). More on the Supreme Leader's tough talk today (see 1245 GMT), one in which he did not walk out because of an inconvenient question (see 1420 GMT):

Today, there exists no system like the Islamic establishment in the world that can stand unshakably in the face of heavy, hostile propaganda, political and economic pressures and sanctions....[Because of our] reliance on God...whenever the people fear for the Revolution and sense threats and animosity, huge crowds of people, spontaneously and without convocation, take to the streets across the country.

1935 GMT: Blocking the Airwaves. An Iranian activist has reported that Voice of America Persian can no longer be received in Tehran.

1655 GMT: This Just In. Heading off to an academic commitment, but had to note this statement by the US Government and European Union, released by the White House:

The United States and the European Union condemn the continuing human rights violations in Iran since the June 12 election. The large scale detentions and mass trials, the threatened execution of protestors, the intimidation of family members of those detained and the continuing denial to its citizens of the right to peaceful expression are contrary to human rights norms.

Our concerns are based on our commitment to universal respect for human rights. We are particularly concerned by the potential for further violence and repression during the coming days, especially around the anniversary of the Islamic Republic's founding on 11 February.

We call on the Government of Iran to live up to its international human rights obligations, to end its abuses against its own people, to hold accountable those who have committed the abuses and to release those who are exercising their rights.

1635 GMT: Summary of Mousavi's Statement. Mir Hossein Mousavi told a group of youth and student activists today:

Disgracing and insulting people and the freedom of thought has nothing to do with Islam. I believe that the nation knows what is best for it and the collective wisdom is the superior wisdom and that is why the Islamic Revolution happened. If we want to save Islam as an asset for the nation, our own interests should not endanger the interests of Islam....

The only demand of the force that has come to the scene today is to return to the main laws and values of the Islamic Revolution, but it is being falsely accused. The Green Movement of the nation of Iran is independent, rational and peaceful. We are not opposed to Basij, the Revolutionary Guards or the police; but rather we are opposed to violence, beating and killing.

1630 GMT: Claim of the Day. The Los Angeles Times, citing a source inside Tehran's police headquarters, claims up to three million opposition protesters may be on the streets on Thursday. The source compared that number to 500,000 pro-Government demonstrators who were out in Tehran on 30 December. The article also claims that about 12,000 Basiji militiamen will be moved into the capital from around the country.

1445 GMT: We've just come out of a discussion of EA's coverage for 22 Bahman to see the English translation of today's statement by former President Mohammad Khatami. We've posted in a separate entry.

1420 GMT: Challenging the Supreme Leader. Khodnevis reports that, during Ayatollah Khamenei’s recent meeting with academics, Hojatoleslam Javadi-Amoli (the son of Ayatolah Javadi-Amoli), asked a pointed question about the President. Javadi-Amoli referred to an encounter between his father and Ahmadinejad, in which the President claimed that, during a speech to the United Nations General, he was covered by a halo of light. The video of the President's account was posted on YouTube but, during the 2009 campaign, Ahmadinejad claimed the story was lies made up by the enemy.

Javadi-Amoli asked the Supreme Leader, “We see many times in religious texts that the ruler of Islamic countries, in order to protect the interests of his country’s people, is permitted to hide parts of the truth, but he cannot say that his own saying is a lie and attribute it to the ramblings of a sick mind. Can one expect justice from such a ruler?”

At that point Khamenei says that he did not have time and left the meeting.

1300 GMT: The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front has issued its call for Iranians to accompany Green and opposition figures in the 22 Bahman rally.

Green movement activists in Ahvaz have also put out a statement.

1255 GMT: Another Media Detention. Amir Sadeghi, photographer for Farhange Ashti, has been arrested at work.

1250 GMT: We Will, We Will Rock You. The Tehran commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, General Hossein Hamadani, has declared again that the Revolutionary Guard will "deal severely" with any protesters on Thursday.

1245 GMT: We Will, We Will Punch You. That is the Supreme Leader's latest line for Thursday, as he told Air Force personnel, "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (of Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman in a way that will leave them stunned."

Using the foreign agents gambit to rule out legitimate protest, Khamenei said that the "most important aim of the sedition after the election was to create a rift within the Iranian nation, but it was unable to do so and our nation's unity remained a thorn in its eyes".

1135 GMT: The Next 22 Bahman Move? A group of youth and student activists have met with Mir Hossein Mousavi today, declaring that they will march on Thursday with Green symbols to seek justice and freedom and announcing "to the totalitarians" that sooner or later they will free the Islamic Republic from oppression. We are awaiting a text of Mousavi's remarks.

1125 GMT: Another High-Profile Sentence. Former Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Aminzadeh has reportedly been given a six-year prison term for "disturbing" national security and spreading propaganda.

1110 GMT: Targeting Mortazavi. 57 members of Parliament have written to the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, and President Ahmadinejad to demand the immediate dismissal and trial of Presidential aide Saeed Mortazavi for his alleged role in the Kahrizak Prison abuses.

1100 GMT: Khomeini v. The Regime. Ezzatollah Zarghami, the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Republic, has replied sharply to the complaint of Seyed Hassan Khomeini about IRIB's "censorship" of the speeches of his grandfather, Ayatollah Khomeini: "If only you had written a protest letter to condemn the shameful events after the election...."

0940 GMT: Million-Dollar Defendant. After 216 days in detention, Feizollah Arab Sorkhi, a senior member of the reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution party, finally stood trial on Sunday. Proceedings are ongoing; Arab Sorkhi’s bail has been set at more than $1 million.

Meanwhile, journalist Emadeddin Baghi remains in solitary confinement despite the end of his interrogation.

0935 GMT: A New Voice. The Green Voice of Freedom website, from which we are pictured up some latest news items, has launched an English edition.

0930 GMT: Freed. Amidst the dominant news of arrests, a belated notice of released: last week 10 students from Elm-o-Sanat University, detained on and after Ashura, were let out of prison.

0920 GMT: And Now the Real News. Following the complaint from Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the Imam's grandson, to the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Ahmad Montazeri --- son of the Grand Ayatollah, who died in December --- has sent a letter of protest.

The issue is an IRIB interview with former Minister of Intelligence Ali Fallahian, who launched a fierce criticism of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri.

0910 GMT: It Gets Worse. The BBC's top radio programme, Today, having done a muddled but creditable effort to get beyond the misleading headlines on Iran (see 0715 GMT), threw it all away with an appalling interview an hour ago.

The fault lay not with the interviewee, Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, but with the interviewer, Evan Davies, whose obsession was to establish that Iran might soon have The Bomb. That distortion was only corrected at the end of the discussion, when Fitzpatrick --- moving from theory and fantasy to reality --- noted that Iran does not have the technical capacity to maintain its current civilian programme, let alone establish weapons capability.

Meanwhile, the Green Movement made a fleeting appearance as the device to get a "more acceptable regime" in Iran on the nuclear issue.

Across the Atlantic, Juan Cole does an effective job taking away Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's "scare" rhetoric in her interview with CNN on Sunday and then putting the Ahmadinejad declaration in appropriate context.

0820 GMT: And This is Just Silly. Reuters reports, without blinking an eye, Salehi's declaration, ""Iran will set up 10 uranium enrichment centers next year."

Hmm.... At least that's not quite as extravagant as President Ahmadinejad's snap announcement last autumn that Iran would build 20 centres (an event that EA readers recalled yesterday). Reuters might also want to note, beyond its sentence, "Analysts have expressed skepticism whether sanctions-bound Iran, which has problems obtaining materials and components abroad, would be able to equip and operate 10 new plants", that Iran cannot even keep one centre, Natanz, functioning at more than 50 percent capacity.

0745 GMT: Nuclear Kabuki. Tehran keeps up the sideshow this morning, with Iranian state media headlining the declaration of the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akhbar Salehi, "We have written a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to announce our intention to enrich uranium to 20 percent. We will send this letter to the world's atomic watchdog on Monday and then start enrichment on Tuesday in the presence of inspectors and observers from the IAEA."

Dramatic? No. This is no more than a restatement of what Iran is allowed to do under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, since the 20-percent level is for civilian rather than military uses. Indeed, that is (and has been for months) the real uranium issue: whether soon Iran runs out of fuel for its medical research reactor.

0715 GMT: The gap between image and reality has widened overnight in coverage of Iran. The "Western" press, with few exceptions, have now done their lemming jump into a simplistic portrayal of President Ahmadinejad's Sunday media stunt: his declaration that Iran would immediately start producing 20-percent enriched uranium so it can ensure self-sufficiency if there is no "swap" deal with the West.

This morning, BBC's top radio programme has one of the better stories, noting both the obvious (that Ahmadinejad's expectation is "unrealistic", given the technical issues with Iran's nuclear programme( and the important (that the move, in large part, comes from domestic pressure). Even so, the piece opens with the overall declaration that this is "yet another step" in "Iran's nuclear confrontation" with Western powers, which is a bit curious since --- less than a week ago --- the Iranian President was reviving the possibility of a "swap" of enriched uranium outside Iran.
And, beyond that, the bigger picture of the post-election challenge to the Iranian Government and possibly the Iranian system fades.

CNN, for example, is making a big noise on Twitter that it is launching in-depth coverage for the demonstrations of 22 Bahman, Thursday's anniversary of the 1979 Revolution. Yet its feature story is solely devoted to Ahmadinejad's Sunday proclamation, with the internal situation distorted into two concluding paragraphs:

Sunday's announcement of the new enriched uranium plans falls within the 10-day period marking the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.

Celebrations commemorating the overthrow began last week and will culminate on February 11.

The immediate damage is that the important developments inside Iran escape notice. This morning, for example, we have published a list of 57 journalists who are detained, amongst hundreds of other political prisoners.

The wider significance of such blinkered and sensational visions is that it is unlikely that the complexities of the contest for power will not be understood on Thursday. Instead, 22 Bahman will suddenly leap into the media frame as a breathless and somewhat confused story of "What are the numbers?", "Where is the violence?", and "Where is the video?", with little appreciation of the real pressure on President Ahmadinejad.

That pressure is coming from inside the Iranian establishment, as well as outside it. Perhaps more importantly, Thursday could be a marker of whether that pressure builds on other parts of the regime, including the position of the Supreme Leader.

22 Bahman is three days away.

Iran Document: Khatami Statement for 22 Bahman (8 February)

In meeting on Monday with the managers and staff of Iranian Labor News Agency, former President Mohammad Khatami set out his thoughts for Thursday's anniversary of the 1979 Revolution. Adapted from the Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi:

The Islamic Republic that people wanted and replaced the monarchy was a republic similar to what the other countries have and also there was the Islamic aspect to it, similar to what existed in the time of Imam Ali (Shia’s first Imam). [This was] an Islam that, in addition to God and ethics, also stresses the dignity, respect, and rights of the people.

The Latest from Iran (8 February): Staying with the Real Story

We should try to eliminate obstacles and move toward the goals of the revolution. Reform means accepting the principles and correcting the possible wrongdoings and diversions. In this path our movement is based on the Constitution; the Constitution is something created by humans (i.e., is not perfect) but is the foundation of our reformist movement. Any diversions or contradictory interpretations of the Constitution or any problem in implementing it should be corrected. With God’s help all the people will participate in the 11 February (22 Bahman) rally with the common goal of defending the revolution and public right and as the true owners of the revolution.

Our expectation from all the influential figures of the country is fairness. We defend people’s rights and selections. For all of us, as we have announced before, the goal is to achieve a mechanism for holding healthy elections without any dispute so that people could trust that they can reinstate their rights.

We believe that the government should stop the insults, destructions and arrests. Those who are detained care for the establishment and should be released immediately, and in a less intense environment the pressure on independent media should be eased.

Latest Iran Video: Protest at Sharif University, Tehran (8 February)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAErvakkL0[/youtube]

The Latest from Iran (8 February): Staying with the Real Story

The Latest from Iran (7 February): Tremors

2045 GMT: Kalemeh is reporting that more than 1000 students at Sharif University demonstrated today over detentions of their classmates.

2030 GMT: Ali Kalai of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters has been re-arrested, and journalist Ehsan Mohrabi is reported to have been detained tonight.

1950 GMT: Criticising Khomeini. That's right --- days before the celebration of the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution, 180 members of Parliament have signed a statement denouncing the Imam's grandson, Seyed Hassan Khomeini. The dispute arose when Khomeini wrote the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Ezzatollah Zarghamai, complaining about "censorship" of his grandfather's speeches.

1930 GMT: Conservative Mischief. Ayande News stirs the pot with a story claiming that Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai went to Switzerland recently, not only to promote a "uranium swap" on Iran's Kish Island but also to pursue secret meetings on other issues, presumably with US officials. The paper, quoting French and Swiss newspapers, ponders what covert messages Rahim-Mashai brought.

No prizes here to guess the propaganda: the "conservative opposition" wants to stick Ahmadinejad, through his right-hand man, with the label of appeaser of Washington.

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Iran Document: Karroubi’s Open Letter for 22 Bahman (6 February)
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Iran Document: Iranian Journalists Write Their Overseas Colleagues About 22 Bahman
The Latest from Iran (6 February): Eyes on the Real Prize

1925 GMT: After all our frustration with the media coverage of the Ahmadinejad nuclear moves this week, full marks to Borzou Daragahi and Julian Barnes of the Los Angeles Times for nailing the story: "In a possible move to deflect attention from Iran's political woes, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday ordered the nation's atomic energy agency to begin enriching uranium from 3.5% to 20% purity to serve as fuel for a Tehran medical reactor."


1900 GMT: Oh Dear G** (cont.). We've posted the video of Sarah Palin's political advice to Barack Obama: "Bomb Iran".

1715 GMT: Oh Dear G**. Sometimes objectivity has to give way before the train-wreck of politics and media coverage. This morning's charade plays out, as the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akhbar Salehi, dutifully responding to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call, says, "As Iranian president [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] announced, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will start enriching uranium to a level of 20 percent if talks on fuel swap fail to achieve an outcome."

Instead of calling out the pretence in the Ahmadinejad game --- if Iran can enrich uranium to 20 per cent and thus does not need a deal with the West, why haven't they been doing so for many months? --- the Western media chase this without question. Indeed, CNN elevates this to a crisis moment --- "a fresh challenge to Western powers bidding to rein in Tehran's galloping nuclear drive" --- never noticing the internal situation behind the President's move.

About the only political/media stunt more distressing/humourous than this is a woman named Sarah Palin, who today advises President Obama to ensure his re-election by bombing Iran.

1555 GMT: Revolving Door. While the regime is sweeping up activists and journalists, there have been releases as well. Ali Gholi Tabar and Morteza Saremi, members of the reformist Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution have been released on bail.

1415 GMT: More Detained Journalists (see 1205 GMT). Mahsa Jazini of Iran newspaper has been detained.

1400 GMT: The Other Side of the Mottaki Visit. While the international media was dwelling on the nuclear issue during Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki's jaunt to the Munich Security Conference, others were highlighting the internal situation in no uncertain terms.



A United for Iran activist explains the issues in an interview with Germany's Welt TV.

1300 GMT: Here We Go. The Islamic Republic News Agency is featuring a statement from the Ministry of Intelligence, putting out the grand narrative --- four days before the demonstrations of 22 Bahman --- of protesters supported by the US and Israel:

Seven people organisationally linked to the counter-revolutionaries, the Zionist media and elements of the sedition have been arrested....A number of them were officially hired by the U.S. intelligence agency, the CIA.

The detainees, who were not named, were allegedly involved with the US Government-backed Farsi-language station Radio Farda and received training in Istanbul and Dubai in disrupting public order, spreading rumors and conducting sabotage. The seven supposedly played a significant role in "post-election riots", especially on Ashura (27 December).

1205 GMT: Latest arrests include journalists Zeinab Kazemkhah, Samiyeh Momeni, Ahmad Jalali-Farihani of Mehr, and Akbar Montajab of Etemade-Melli.


1155 GMT: Coming Out for 22 Bahman. Rah-e-Sabz has published a summary of calls from reformist and Green groups, including the Mohajedin of Islamic Revolution and Etemade Melli parties, for people to demonstrate this Thursday.

An English translation of the statement of the reformist Association of Combatant Clerics has now been posted.

1145 GMT: This Has Nothing to Do with 22 Bahman. Really. I can only report this "straight" and let everyone draw their own judgements. From Agence France Presse:

Iran said on Sunday its Internet connections will remain slow this week due to technical problems, ahead of anticipated protests by opposition supporters. Connections have been slow since last week and some email accounts have been unavailable for several hours each day.

"The cause of the reduced Internet speed in recent days is that part of the fibre-optic network is damaged," Communications Minister Reza Taghipour told Iran's state broadcaster. "The breakage will be repaired by next week and the Internet speed will be back to normal". ["Next week" begins 13 February.]

Taghipour said the undersea optic fibre across the Gulf between the Iranian port of Jask and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates had been damaged due to shipping traffic and anchoring. He also acknowledged that text messaging in Iran had been disrupted, blaming it on "changing software."

0940 GMT: Nuclear Fiddling (cont.). So why did Ahmadinejad shift again this morning on Iran's enrichment of uranium (see 0835 GMT)? Consider the setting, the exhibition of Laser Science and Technology Achievements: you can't exactly prove you're setting the scientific/technological worlds on fire if you put forward dependency on the "West" for your advances.

And consider the immediate cause: Ahmadinejad's declaration of self-sufficiency, as framed by state media, was "to meet the demands of the country's cancer patients". In other words, Iran is on the verge of running out of 20-percent uranium for its medical research reactors. That is the same concern that took it to the International Atomic Energy Agency last June with the offer to negotiate. And that concern is still very much present.

0840 GMT: Economy in the Pocket of Government? The Iranian Labor News Agency, in the context of the Government's budget proposals, offers an interesting overview of the Iranian economy.

0835 GMT: Nuclear Fiddling While XXX Burns. Days after he tried the headline approach of a deal on uranium enrichment with the West, President Ahmadinejad doubles back this morning in a televised speech with the declaration that Iran can be self-sufficient:

We had told them (the West) to come and have a swap, although we could produce the 20 percent enriched fuel ourselves. We gave them two-to-three months' time for such a deal. They started a new game and now I (ask) Dr Salehi (the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization) to start work on the production of 20 percent fuel using centrifuges....The doors for interaction are still open.

I leave it  for readers, in light of our analysis this morning, to fill in the XXXs with their interpretation. Meanwhile, the non-Iranian media --- apparently oblivious to the internal developments in Iran in the last 24 hours --- are following over themselves to feature Ahmadinejad's latest statement without considering why he made it.

0830 GMT: Journalist Jamileh Darolshafaie and her sister, music teacher Banafsheh Darolshafaie, have been arrested.

0815 GMT: We begin this Sunday morning, four days before 22 Bahman and the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution, trying to put together the dramatic and somewhat unexpected developments from the declarations of the opposition to the letter from a key MP to Mir Hossein Mousavi seeking the deal "Accept Khamenei, Reject Ahmadinejad". Our special analysis sets out why all of this is a sign of regime weakness.

A couple more supporting pieces of evidence this morning: Ayatollah Dastgheib, a persistent critic of the Government and indeed of the system, has declared, "One Person Cannot Rule 70 Million People". That's a pretty direct challenge to the Supreme Leader and velayat-e-faqih (clerical supremacy). Dastgheib, echoing the demands for freedoms made in last night's manifesto of Mehdi Karroubi's Etemade Party, declared:

It seems like today all the affairs of the country is in the hands of Revolutionary Guards and police and people have no say or will and this is the basis of the diversion from the principles of the revolution....

The armed forces, police, Revolutionary Guards and military should consider people’s benefit not their own benefit; they should guard people’s lives, belongings and dignity....The police should support the religious figures and scholars and not do something to isolate them, leaving no dignity for anyone except those who obey them.